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>   Its 

■  9 


The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea 

BY 

ALBERT  B.  LEWIS 
Assistant  Curator  of  Melanesian  Ethnology 


Ttf  UBBWT  QF  THf 
AP3  3     I! 


UfotV: 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

CHICAGO 
1923 


ffUBmTr  OF  HiWOIS  LIBRARY 


POUNDING  OUT  SAGO  PITH.     THE  HARD  OUTER  PORTION  OF  THE  TRUNK  HAS 
BEEN   REMOVED  ON  TOP.      SISSANO,    NORTH  COAST. 


PLACING  THE  SAGO  MUSH  ON  A  BANANA-LEAF  PLATE.      THE  STIRRING  PADDLE, 

COCONUT  DIPPER,   AND  HOT-WATER  POT  ARE  SEEN  AT  THE  LEFT. 

SISSANO,    NORTH  COAST. 


153 1?  THE  mm  nF  THF 

'.9  APS  3     1S25 

NIVERSITY  Of  ILUN0I8 

Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 
Chicago.  1923 

Leaflet  Number  9 

Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea 

The  obtaining  of  a  good  and  sufficient  supply  of 
food  in  New  Guinea  is  not  such  a  simple  and  easy 
matter  as  the  popular  impression  of  South  Sea  life 
might  lead  one  to  expect.  Nearly  all  the  food  of  the 
people  is  vegetable;  and  the  clearing  of  the  forest 
for  their  gardens,  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  the 
planting  and  the  protection  of  the  growing  crops 
against  rapidly  growing  weeds  and  wild  animals, 
chiefly  pigs,  demand  much  hard  work  and  constant 
vigilance.     Adding  to  this  the  fact  that  their  only 

"^  tools  and  implements  are  of  stone  and  wood,  and  that 

all  the  work  is  hand-work,  as  there  are  no  domestic 

animals  to  help,  one  is  forced  to  admit  that  the  New 

^K    Guinea  native  is  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  "in  the 

:   sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,"  or  whatever 

\i  he  can  get  to  take  its  place. 

There  is  still,  however,  a  certain  amount  of  food 

^j  obtained  from  wild  plants,  and  among  these  the  sago 
palm  is  by  far  the  most  important.  The  palms  from 
which  most  of  the  sago  is  obtained  belong  to  the  genus 

^Metroxylon,  and  grow  in  low  and  swampy  regions, 

such  as  the  valleys  and  deltas  of  many  New  Guinea 

|   rivers.     Many  tribes  living  in  such  regions  subsist 

largely  on  sago  and  fish,  and  even  people  from  some 

\-  distance  may  come  thither,  either  to  trade  their  own 
products  for  sago  with  the  local  inhabitants,  or,  in 

-^.uninhabited  districts,  to  manufacture  it  for  themselves. 

^b  Sago,  as  prepared  in  New  Guinea,  is  not  the  pearl  sago 

<*>  of  commerce,  which  is  frequently  only  potato  starch 

[ii] 


2  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

anyway,  but  is  a  fine  meal  of  almost  pure  starch, 
which  on  drying  hardens  into  a  more  or  less  solid 
mass.  This  is  broken  up  and  pulverized  before 
cooking. 

This  starch  is  the  reserve  food  supply  of  the 
palm,  which  it  stores  up  in  its  trunk  during  many 
years  of  growth,  for  the  consummation  of  its  purpose 
in  life, — the  production  of  flower,  fruit,  and  seed, 
which  it  does  only  once,  and  then  dies,  like  the  century 
plant.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  in  order  to  get  the 
maximum  amount  from  each  palm,  to  cut  it  down  just 
before  it  puts  forth  its  flower  or  fruit  stalks,  as  these 
grow  very  rapidly,  and  soon  use  up  the  reserve  supply 
of  starch  which  has  been  accumulated  during  all  the 
years  of  slow  and  steady  growth. 

The  trunk  or  stem  of  the  sago  palm,  when  full 
grown,  is  from  20  to  25  feet  high,  with  a  diameter 
of  from  I1/*  to  2  feet.  There  is  a  hard  outer  rind  or 
shell  about  an  inch  or  less  in  thickness,  while  the 
whole  inner  portion  is  filled  with  a  soft  white  sub- 
stance about  the  consistency  of  cheese,  with  numerous 
coarse,  rather  brittle  fibers  running  through  it.  These 
have  to  be  removed  before  it  can  be  used,  so  the 
natives  mash  it  up  and  wash  out  the  starch.  This 
process  is  much  the  same  throughout  the  island, 
though  the  details  vary  somewhat  in  different  regions. 
As  the  palms  grow  out  in  the  swamps,  a  suitable  tree 
must  first  be  found.  This  is  then  cut  down,  and  the 
trunk  may  be  either  cut  into  sections,  and  these 
floated  to  a  regular  working-place  near  the  village, 
or  the  washing  out  may  be  done  on  the  spot,  as  the 
places  where  they  grow  are  usually  above  water  and 
fairly  dry  during  the  dry  season.  In  either  case  the 
hard  outer  rind  is  split  open  with  heavy,  pointed 
stakes,  and  a  portion  pried  off,  so  the  pith  is  exposed. 
This  is  then  pounded  and  mashed  with  a  peculiar 
hammer  made  especially  for  this  purpose,  having  at 

[12] 


The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea  3 

the  lower  end  a  cup-shaped  depression  with  sharp 
edges.  This  cuts  out  the  pith  and  mashes  it  at  the 
same  time.  The  cutting  head  may  be  of  hard  wood, 
bamboo,  or  stone,  according  to  the  locality. 

The  mashed  pith  is  thrown  into  baskets  and 
carried  to  the  washing  trough,  which  is  made  out  of 
the  base  of  a  sago-leaf  stem.  As  the  base  of  the  leaf 
stem  clasps  the  trunk,  it  is  quite  large,  and  the  stem 
for  a  considerable  distance  is  hollowed  out  on  one 
side,  and  so  makes  an  excellent  trough.  The  portion 
used  is  usually  from  8  to  10  feet  long,  and  is  set  up 
on  stakes  so  that  one  end,  usually  the  larger,  is  lower 
than  the  other.  In  the  trough,  near  the  lower  end,  is 
fastened  the  strainer,  usually  made  of  a  piece  of  the 
fibrous  leaf  sheath  of  the  coconut  tree,  though  a 
closely  woven  bag  sometimes  serves  for  this  purpose. 
The  mashed  pith  is  dumped  in  the  trough  and  water 
poured  over  it  to  wash  out  the  starch.  During  this 
process  it  is  worked  with  the  hands  or  pounded  with 
a  stick  to  break  it  up  still  more,  so  all  the  starch  can 
be  removed.  The  water  is  obtained  from  a  hole 
near-by,  and  is  dipped  up  with  a  dipper  of  coconut 
shell  on  a  long  handle ;  or  it  may  be  brought  from  the 
near-by  river  in  a  water  bucket,  made  of  a  leaf  or 
bud  sheath.  This  same  material  forms  the  shallow 
basin  into  which  the  starchy  water  runs,  and  where 
it  stands  till  the  starch  settles  to  the  bottom.  Near 
the  mouth  of  the  Sepik  River  a  basket  is  used  as  a 
strainer  without  any  trough.  The  basket  is  then  set 
on  an  open  platform,  with  the  settling  pan  under- 
neath. The  water  is  poured  into  the  basket,  which 
is  worked  and  squeezed  by  hand,  the  starchy  water 
running  out  into  the  basin  below.  When  a  consider- 
able quantity  has  been  accumulated  in  this  manner, 
it  is  partially  dried,  and  packed  into  coconut-leaf  or 
sago-leaf  baskets  to  be  taken  to  the  village,  or  traded 
to  neighboring  tribes.     In  these  baskets  it  may  be 

[13] 


4  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

kept  a  short  time  till  used  or  it  may  be  packed  away 
into  casks  made  of  bark,  leaf  sheaths,  or  even  a  section 
of  a  sago  trunk.  These  stand  in  a  corner  of  the  house, 
or  under  special  sheds.  The  sago  is  packed  down 
tightly,  and  is  covered  on  top  with  leaves  or  pieces 
of  leaf  sheaths,  weighted  down  with  stones,  and  is 
removed  as  needed.  It  may  be  kept  in  this  way  several 
months. 

Sago  is  cooked  in  a  number  of  different  ways,  but 
it  is  usually  made  into  a  sort  of  stiff  mush  with 
boiling  water.  The  meal  is  first  mixed  with  a  small 
amount  of  cold  water,  and  boiling  water  is  then 
poured  in,  stirring  continuously  until  it  thickens.  It 
is  then  taken  out  with  two  short  sticks,  and  served 
on  wooden  platters  or  bowls,  or  on  large  leaves,  such 
as  those  of  the  breadfruit  tree.  As  the  sago  alone  is 
quite  insipid,  something  else,  such  as  a  little  fish, 
crabs,  prawns,  or  even  some  greens,  if  nothing  else  is 
available,  is  added  as  a  relish. 

While  this  is  the  usual  method  of  preparing  sago, 
other  methods  are  also  used,  especially  when  pottery 
is  lacking.  The  sago  meal  may  be  cooked  or  roasted 
in  bamboo  tubes  (Fig.  1),  made  into  cakes  and 
cooked  over  an  open  fire,  or  like  waffles  by  means  of 
two  earthen  bowls,  fitting  into  each  other.  In  this 
case  both  bowls  are  heated  over  a  fire,  and  in  one  of 
these  is  spread  a  thin  layer  of  the  moistened  meal. 
The  other  bowl,  now  hot,  is  placed  in  the  first,  on  top 
of  the  layer  of  meal,  which  is  thus  heated  on  both 
sides.  While  this  is  getting  properly  cooked,  another 
layer  of  meal  is  placed  in  the  upper  bowl ;  and  when 
the  first  is  done,  the  lower  bowl  is  removed  and  placed 
on  top  of  the  upper  one  with  its  meal-cake,  which  is 
then  cooked  in  its  turn,  and  the  process  continued  as 
long  as  more  cakes  are  desired.  The  cakes  are  often 
doubled  over  whatever  relish  may  be  added,  so  as  to 
make  a  sort  of  sandwich.     In  western  New  Guinea 

[14] 


The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea  5 

an  earthen  or  stone  oven  is  in  common  use.  This  is 
a  foot  or  more  long  by  six  to  eight  inches  high  and 
as  many  wide,  with  a  number  of  rectangular  openings, 
or  holes  on  top,  about  an  inch  wide,  in  which  the  moist 
meal  is  placed  (Fig.  2).  This  is  then  placed  over  the 
fire,  and  thick  square  or  rectangular  cakes  are  thus 
produced. 


Yig.  1.     Roasted  sago  in  bamboo,  broken  open.    Kerema  district,  Papua. 
Fig.  2.    Earthenware  oven  for  sago  cakes.    Kokas,  Dutch  New  Guinea. 

This  method  of  cooking  sago,  as  well  as  the  gen-, 
eral  method  of  obtaining  the  meal,  does  not  differ 
greatly  from  those  used  in  the  Malay  Archipelago, 
from  where  the  use  of  sago  was  probably  introduced 
into  New  Guinea.  The  methods,  however,  are  usually 
simpler,  in  that  the  objects  used,  such  as  the  washing 
trough,  strainer,  dipper,  settling  pan,  etc.,  are 
supplied  by  nature  from  near-by  objects  with  very 
little  modification. 

To  one  traveling  in  New  Guinea  with  native  at- 
tendants the  local  food  supply  is  always  a  subject  of 
interest,  as  one  depends  on  that  as  far  as  possible  to 
relieve  him  from  the  necessity  of  carrying  extra  pro- 
visions. Sago  is  used  extensively  chiefly  in  those  dis- 
tricts which  are  more  or  less  unsuited  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  ordinary  garden  or  field  crops,  such 
as  the  swampy  regions  where  the  sago-palm  thrives; 
but  it  also  has  one  advantage  over  most  garden  vege- 

[15] 


6  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

tables,  such  as  taro,  in  that  it  can  be  kept  for  several 
months,  and  a  reserve  supply  of  food  can  in  this  way 
be  accumulated.  This  makes  it  suitable  for  trade,  and 
for  the  use  of  such  peoples  as  those  living  on  the 
small  islands  of  Berlin  Harbor,  which  are  too  small 
to  support  gardens  of  any  size,  and  are  almost  en- 
tirely cut  off  from  the  mainland  during  the  rainy 
season  because  of  the  high  winds  and  heavy  seas. 
Hence  these  islanders  depend  very  largely  on  sago, 
which  they  either  purchase  with  the  articles  which 
they  manufacture,  or  else  make  themselves  by  crossing 
over  to  swamps  of  the  mainland  during  the  dry 
weather.  The  sago  thus  obtained  is  packed  away  in 
the  large  casks  already  mentioned,  for  use  during  the 
rainy  season.  I  remember,  while  visiting  one  of  these 
islands,  trying  to  buy  a  shell  arm-ring  which  was 
partly  finished,  but  which  the  maker  and  owner  re- 
fused to  sell  on  the  ground  that  he  depended  on  that 
arm-ring  to  furnish  him  with  a  large  portion  of  his 
food  for  the  coming  rainy  season.  For  one  finished 
arm-ring  he  could  buy  nearly  half  a  ton  of  sago,  or 
about  thirty  packages  or  baskets  of  sago,  each  con- 
taining 25  to  30  pounds. 

Probably  the  most  extensive  trading  voyage  oc- 
curring regularly  in  New  Guinea  is  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  sago.  This  is  the  annual  visit  of  the 
natives  of  Port  Moresby  and  vicinity  to  the  deltas 
of  the  large  rivers  entering  into  the  Papuan  Gulf, 
a  distance  of  200  miles  or  more.  The  region  around 
Port  Moresby  is  not  particularly  good  for  vegetable 
crops,  so  the  inhabitants  make  these  trips  to  ob- 
tain sago  in  exchange  for  earthen  pots  of  various 
sizes,  which  they  make  in  great  quantities.  They  also 
carry  into  the  gulf  numbers  of  stone  adze-blades,  shell 
arm-rings  and  ornaments  of  various  kinds,  which  they 
have  obtained  by  trade  from  the  eastward.  Since 
there  are  no  good  forest  trees  for  canoes  in  their 

[16] 


The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea  7 

neighborhood,  they  also  buy  in  the  gulf  the  large  dug- 
outs which  they  use  for  these  voyages.  These  dug- 
outs (asi)  are  not  used  singly,  but  a  number  of  them 
are  fastened  together,  and  a  platform  built  over  the 
whole  so  as  to  form  a  single  craft,  known  as  a  lakatoi. 
Up  to  a  dozen  or  even  more  dugouts  may  be  used  in  a 
single  lakatoi,  which  is  usually  supplied  with  two 
masts  and  crab-claw  shaped  sails  made  of  mats.  As 
they  can  only  sail  with  the  wind,  and  are  too  heavy  to 
paddle,  the  voyage  always  occurs  at  a  definite  time 
each  year.  The  start  is  made  about  the  first  of  Oc- 
tober, toward  the  close  of  the  season  of  the  southeast 
trade  winds,  but  with  sufficient  time  to  reach  their 
destination  before  these  cease.  The  return  voyage  is 
made  with  the  northwest  winds,  the  whole  time  they 
are  away  being  about  three  months.  The  average 
number  of  lakatoi  making  the  trip  each  year  has  been 
about  twenty,  each  with  a  crew  of  twenty-five  to  thirty 
men,  and  carrying  between  one  and  two  thousand  pots 
of  various  sizes.  On  the  return  voyage  they  are 
loaded  with  sago,  each  dugout  (asi)  being  capable  of 
carrying  about  two  and  a  half  tons,  so  that  a  lakatoi 
of  10  asi  would  bring  back  about  25  tons  of  sago  all 
carefully  done  up  in  bundles  or  packages  of  from  40 
to  80  pounds  weight,  each  one  of  which  has  been  pur- 
chased with  a  single  pot. 

In  the  delta  country  of  the  Papuan  Gulf,  where 
sago  is  made  in  large  quantities,  both  for  home  con- 
sumption and  for  export,  the  washing  troughs  are 
usually  set  up  along  the  bank  of  the  river  or  water 
courses,  and  the  sago  trunks  floated  to  this  place  before 
the  sago  is  pounded  out.  In  some  places  I  have  seen 
dozens  of  these  washing  troughs  lining  the  bank  of  a 
stream.  The  hammers  used  in  this  region  are  made 
of  two  pieces  of  wood.  The  hammer  proper  is  from 
2  to  21/2  feet  long,  and  rather  carefully  cut  out  of  a 
straight  piece  of  wood.     It  is  round,  from  2  to  21/2 

[17] 


8  Field  Museum  op  Natural  History 

inches  in  diameter  at  the  bottom,  and  grad- 
ually tapers  to  a  point  at  the  upper  end.  The  bottom 
is  hollowed  out  somewhat  with  a  sharp  edge  all 
around,  as  before  mentioned.  The  handle  is  usually  a 
little  shorter,  and  may  be  forked  or  split  at  the  upper 
end  (Purari  Delta  and  eastward — Fig.  5),  or  merely 
a  fairly  straight  piece  of  the  limb  of  a  tree,  often 
with  the  bark  still  on  (west  of  Purari  Delta  to  the 
Fly  River — Fig.  6) .  The  two  pieces  are  held  together 
at  the  top  or  angle  by  a  ring  of  rattan,  into  which  they 
are  inserted  from  opposite  sides,  and  the  outer  ends 
then  pulled  around  so  as  to  tighten  the  ring,  and  held 
in  place  by  a  piece  of  rattan  fastened  to  the  two  parts 
near  the  base.  The  strainers  used  in  the  delta  country 
are  rather  long,  narrow,  soft,  tightly  woven  bags, 
measuring  about  7  by  15  inches  when  flattened  out. 
These  were  not  seen  at  Orokolo  or  farther  east,  where 
the  usual  strainer  of  coconut-leaf  sheath  is  used.  On 
the  north  coast  of  New  Guinea  around  Berlin  Harbor 
and  farther  west,  the  heads  of  the  hammers  are  of 
stone,  with  handles  similar  to  those  used  for  the  stone 
axes  and  adzes  of  that  region  (Fig.  7).  Stone  heads 
are  also  used  around  Humboldt  Bay,  with  the  type  of 
handle  peculiar  to  that  region  (Fig.  8).  Farther  to 
the  east  on  both  sides  of  the  Sepik  River  the  hammer 
is  of  wood,  much  like  that  on  the  south  coast,  but 
fastened  to  the  handle  the  same  as  the  holder  for  the 
stone  axe-head  is  fastened  (Fig.  4).  Sometimes  in 
this  region  (at  Kayan,  for  example)  a  bamboo  head  is 
used  (Fig.  3).  A  bamboo  head  is  also  used  in  the 
Admiralty  Islands.  In  Huon  Gulf  a  stone  head  is  used 
in  the  ordinary  axe-handle,  but  here  the  head  is  larger 
and  roughly  flattened  instead  of  cup-shaped  (Fig.  9). 
Often  a  stone  axe  which  has  been  broken  fairly 
straight  across  is  used.  Hammers  with  rough  stones 
are  also  found  on  the    Sepik  River  (Fig.  10). 

Albert  B.  Lewis. 

[18] 


The  Use  of  Sago  in  New  Guinea 


SAGO  HAMMERS  FROM  NEW  GUINEA. 

Fig.  3.  From  Kayan,  North  Coast,  with  bamboo  joint  for  head.  Fig.  4.  From 
Mabuk,  North  Coast.  Fig.  6.  From  Papuan  Gulf,  South  Coast.  Fig.  6.  From  Goari 
Bari,  South  Coast.  Fig.  7.  From  Berlin  Harbor,  North  Coast,  with  separate 
outline  of  stone  head.  Fig.  8.  From  Attack  Harbor,  with  stone  head.  Fig.  9. 
From  Lokanu,  Huon  Gulf.  Fig.  10.  From-  Jambun,  central  Sepik  River,  with 
crudely  chipped  head  of  quartzite. 


[19] 


WASHING  SAGO  IN  TROUGH   MADE  OF  THE  BASE  OF  A  SAGO-PALM   LEAF. 
KIRAU,    NORTH  COAST. 


COOKING  SAGO  CAKES  BETWEEN  TWO  BOWLS.      PILE  OF  COOKED  CAKES  AT 

LEFT,   AND  MEAL  NEAR  CENTER,   ON  PIECES  OF  PALM-LEAF  SHEATHS. 

SISSANO,   NORTH  COAST. 


